Dough-working apparatus.



. l.. EMBREY.

DOUGH WORKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man FEB. 12. 1915,

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH .50., WASHINGTON, D. C.

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LAURENCE EMBREY, OF 'STOKE-UPON-TRNT, ENGLAND. A'

Dorien-WORKING;APrARATUs. Y

y T all whom t may concern VBe it known that 1LAURENCE EMBREY, subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Stoke-upon-Trent, Staf- -fordshire, England, vhave 'invented certain which is molded and then baked. -The method usually adopted is to place a quantity of dough under a fixed pressure in a chamber' of definitek size. The quantity of dough is cut or separated from the mass and compressed at the fixed pressure into the chamber. Pressure applied by cams and dashpots is not effective although itv permits of varying stroke of the compressing piston. Falling weights also cause difficulties as they are cumbersome and when no dough is in the machine are liable ,to break the machine.l In additionv these methods treat-the dough too harshly. It has also been suggested to place the dough under fluid pressure so that it is squeezed into the chamber of fixed size. This method for obvious reasons is unsatisfactory as it is slow and inaccurate.

The object of the present invention is to to overcome these difliculties hitherto .associated with dough dividers and to this end it consists in means for cutting pieces of dough from the mass and subjecting them to a iixed pressure derived from a piston which is subjected to iiuid pressure. The fluid pressure may be obtained from air or water. y y

Theinvention also comprises various details of construction as hereinafter set forth and described with reference to one illustrative construction which is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which y y Figure 1 is a partial sectional side elevation. Fig. 2 is an irregular section at right anglesto that of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of half of the device.

In carrying the invention into eect according to the form shown, the dough is contained in a hopper 4 and from this it passes partly under gravity and partlyby a suction action into a compartment 5. To the right of this compartment or chamber ygage in slots 24 in side levers 25.

Specication of Letters Patent. Patentedlilel'o. 8, 1916. Application filed February 12,1915. seria1No.7,ss1. l l

is a drum 7v having a cross channel 8 therein: The cross channel 8 contains a piston formed of two end parts 9 having threaded stems 10 which engage in a nutjor sleeve 11.

'l in Fig. 1 there is a movable ram 6 which l 1s under iuid pressure and to the left there The threads'are of opposite handso that on rotating the sleeve 11 the heads or end parts 9 are brought nearer together or farther apart. In this way the space in the cross ychannel 8 available for dough, when the ram 6 is vpressed forward, may be adjusted. The rotation of the sleeve 11 is effected by a worm wheel 12 and worm 13, The shaft of the worm 13 is slidable in aV slot 14 and is provided on its external portion with a,

hand wheel. This part of the apparatus offers no substantial novelty.

The ram 6 may be of square section with rounded corners, and has ixed to it a cyliny drical ram l5 which fits in a cylinder 16 Aand maybe packed at its end as for instance by a leather or like ring 17 The fluid for operating the rain 15 be air contained in a closed chamber-18, which forms the frame of the machine. Fromthis chamber the air passes by a port 19 and'valve 20 into the cylinder16. TheA ram 6 is provided lwith rearwardly extending sliding faces 21 and 22. The side walls carry'pins 23 which en- The levers 25 have also slots 26 in which there engage pins 27 which are carried by the sliding knife 28.I `The knife 28 is guided in guides 29. Owing to the angular shapeof the slot 24, the sliding knife 28 is shot across to sever the dough in the chamber 5 from that in the hopper 4, well before the ram 6 has completed its stroke. The severed dough is then pushed by the ram 6 from the chamber 5 in to the channel 8 in the rotary ydrum 7 The pistonpheads 9`retreat in front ofthe dough thus pressed into position. TheL ram 6 is .also provided with side horns 30 which are adapted to engage with rollers 31 on rotary disks 32. They disks 32 are mounted on a cross shaft 33 which passes through a tubular, sleeve 84 which bridges across the side walls ofthe chamber 18. On

one side, the front side in Fig. 1,-the disk 32 p is .in thev form of a worm wheel which engages a screw 35 on a' shaft 36driven by the pulley 37. As the rollers 31 engage'the lugs Q80, they vpress these lugs from left to right in Fig. 1, and consequently returnl the ram 6 and sliding knife 28 tothe positions illuso trated in Fig. 1 from their outward positions. The suction action created in chamber 5 by the retreat of the ram 6 aids .the filling of this chamber with dough from the hopper l. ln the meantime the drum 7 hasbeen rotated so that the dough already pressed into the available space in the lchannel 8 `is not withdrawn by this suction action. Alongside the worm wheel 32 there is a gear wheel ,38 which, however, has only teeth on half its circumference. This wheel gears with a wheel 39 which in turn gears with fa wheel -lO for driving the drum 7. lWith this mechanism the drum 7 is rotated through half a revolution at intervals Aand the Amovement is so timed that it is initiated before the rearward movement of the ram 6 commences vand has ceasedv when the ram -6 moves forward under the fluid pressure from the closed container 18. The dough pressed in on one side of the piston 9-9 vis thus in the cavity of channel 8 to Ithe left of this piston and when ,the `next quantity of dough is pressed in position, vthe previously pressed in lump is ejected.

Communication between lthe chamber 18 and the cylinder is established at the proper times yby a valve 20 which is operated `by a lever 4-1 pivoted at L12 and an arm 43 is provided on this pivot which engages a ,cam ledge da' fixed on the side of a gear wheel 3S. The chamber'lS is filled with compressed air by a small pump Ll5 driven by a crank 416 on the shaft 36.

It will be seen that this device occupies small yspace and that the piston 15 is free during its forward stroke and the forward stroke of the piston 15 is therefore variable to suit the compressibility of the dough, the piston being arrested when the resistance of the dough balances the force set up by the fluid pressure. The pressure in the vessel 18 is maintained constant by the provision of the suitable relief valve 45. At the same time the pressure is elastic as opposedl to the harsher pressure obtained by weight, and the dough is therefore not subjected to shock likely to rupture the cells of the gluten.

l claim 1. A dough divider comprising means for cutting off pieces of dough from mass thereof, a receiver of definite volume, ,a piston for forcing said pieces into said receiver, an eXpansible fluid pressure motor Afor imp elling said piston toward said receiver, and mechanical means for moving said piston away from said receiver, substantially as `and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth. f

2. A dough divider comprising means fo cutting off pieces of dough from a mass Copies of this vpatent may be kobtained for thereof, a receiver of definite volume, a pis- 'ton lfor forcing said pieces into said receiver, an expansible fluid pressure motor for impelling said piston toward said receiver, and mechanical means for moving said piston away from said receiver, a reservoir for compressed fluid for operating said .fluid pressure motor, anda pump for supplyingcompressed fluid to said reservoir, substantially asand for the purpose `hereinbefore set forth.

8. A vdough divider comprising means for `cutting ,off pieces of dough from a mass thereof, a receiver of definite volume, a piston for forcingl said pieces into said receiver, an air pressure-motor for impelling said piston toward said receiver, mechanical means for moving said piston away from said receiver, a reservoir for compressed air for `operating said air pressure motor, and .means for maintaining said reservoir full of airat constant pressure, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

Ll. A dough divider comprising a hopper for a mass of dough, means for cutting off pieces of dough from said mass, a receiver and a piston for forcing` said pieces into said receiver, means for reciprocating said piston, comprising a ram connected to said piston, a cylinder for said ram, reservoir for compressed air, an air conduit between said reservoir and cylinder, va valve for controlling said conduit, means for operating said valvefor each reciprocation of the ram, and mechanism for returning the ram, against the pressure air in the cylinder after each operative stroke .of the ram, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. A dough divider comprising a dough chamber, a rotatable receiver of definite volume, a cylinder, a piston slidable therein, a pressure air reservoir, a rotary driving member, teeth on a portion of the .periphery :of said driving member, gearing intermittently engaging said teeth and operatively connected to said receiving chamber, a cam on said rotary driving member, valve mechanism operable by said cam and controlling the admission of pressure air to said cylinder, a projection on said driving member and a push plate on the piston and engaging with said projection to return the piston against the air pressure in the reservoir, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

vLAURENGE EMBREY.

Witnesses FRANK MADSLEY, VINCENT FLACKETT.

lfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, VW a,s`r1ing"ccm, D. C. 

